Comatose Cowboy
by Mrs. JENOVA
Summary: COMPLETED Final Chapter. Could it be
1. Default Chapter

Comatose Cowboy  
  
Chapter 1 - "A million lives, a million deaths"  
  
Jet and Faye arrived at Red Dragon Headquarters too late. Dead bodies were strewn everywhere and the building lay in ruin. When they reached Spike, he was face down in a puddle of blood, with no pulse. Jet rolled Spike over and was sickened to catch a glimpse of his intestines visible through the gaping wound.  
  
"Oh, no, Spike...You've done it this time," he said sadly.  
  
Jet turned to Faye and said quickly before his voice could break, "He's dead. We'll take the body and see that he has a decent burial."  
  
Faye helped Jet carry Spike's lifeless body out to the Bebop, where they laid him out on his bed for the journey to the cemetery. As Jet turned to walk away, he heard a slight moan. He shot a look at Faye as if to say "Did you just hear what I thought I heard?" They both rushed to Spike's side and Faye put her ear very close to Spike's mouth.  
  
"He's breathing, but just barely. Head for the nearest hospital!"  
  
"If we take him to a hospital, the last of the Dragons will kill him for sure. I'm going to call Dr. Lee, who fixed my leg. He's very discreet, if you can pay enough."  
  
When Jet got off the phone, he looked miserable.  
  
"The Doc says he'll bring the portable surgery so that he can operate here. If Spike lives long enough for them to arrive. And after I described his wounds, Doc didn't give me much hope that he'll even survive the surgery."  
  
Faye held onto Spike's cold hand. She whispered into his ear, "Hold on Spike...help is coming, but you gotta hold on."  
  
Faye Valentine was not one to indulge tears very often. She couldn't even remember the last time she had cried. It just seemed like a waste of time to her. It was better to channel that energy into toughness and anger.  
  
"God Dammit, Spike - If you die before they get here, I'm going to personally cremate your remains and then scatter your ashes on Earth! How would you like that, huh?"  
  
A short while later, the Doctor's ship signaled that they were ready to come aboard. The Doc took one look at Spike and threw up his hands.  
  
"This guy's already a corpse! You should have called a coroner, not a doctor. What do you want me to do, raise him from the dead?"  
  
Faye grabbed his arm beseechingly. "Please, Doc! If there's any chance you can save him, you gotta try. Besides, this guy has nine lives. He's been through worse than this before and lived. You came all this way, brought all that equipment and that nurse..."  
  
"It would mean hours of surgery, months of recovery, even if he hasn't already sustained brain damage from lack of oxygen. I don't think I want this job, even for the money. You guys will just have to..." He stopped short, hearing the metallic click of Faye's Glock inside his ear. It wasn't the first time this 'discreet' physician had been threatened with his life, but never by someone who looked as though she was hanging by such a loose thread.  
  
"Nurse, get the mobile operating theater set up, stat," he barked, then he turned to Jet. "I want double my fee if he lives."  
  
Jet nodded to this thief of a doctor, wondering where he would get the money. His leg was all fucked up from his last outing with Spike. He had taken a bullet in the thigh and the leg was more damaged than he let on. There was no way he could go chasing after bounty in this condition, and Faye didn't look like she could work in the state she was presently in, let alone go out without backup from Spike or himself. No, Jet figured he would have to borrow the money from the Syndicate. How ironic, that he was in this position of having to hide Spike from the very people he would need to get the money from to fix him. Jet signed off on the deal, providing that if Spike died, Lee would get nothing. The Doc and his nurse went to work, spending fourteen hours sewing Spike back together, replacing precious blood back into his veins. The duel had cost him his spleen, his gall bladder and a goodly portion of his large intestine. His vitals fluctuated wildly the whole time and when they finished, Spike was in a deep coma, but officially alive. That broad wasn't kidding when she said that he had nine lives, the Doc thought. He probably went through three or four of them right there on that operating table! Now, only time would tell just how much of Spike was left in that brain of his. The doctor explained to Jet that often after a massive trauma such as the one Spike sustained, that the speech part of the brain was slowest to recover, if it ever did. Sometimes personalities changed dramatically. And depending on how long he stayed in the coma, he could have some pretty devastating muscle atrophy in his arms and legs from lack of use. Many coma victims took a year or more to regain their ability to walk. Some never did. It was all a crapshoot that Jet and Faye would have to deal with.  
  
Dr. Lee spent the next hour showing Jet how to change IV's, work the ventilator, heart monitor, catheter, drainage tubes and how to turn Spike.  
  
And now the 'good' doctor would just like to collect his earnings and go before Spike could take a turn for the worse. Jet explained to the doctor that he would need a few days to get the 1 million Woolongs to pay him. Dr. Lee gave Jet only 24 hours, explaining that while he considered Jet a principled man worthy of credit, the medical equipment keeping Spike alive could be shut down from controls on his own ship. If Jet didn't pay tomorrow, Lee could simply "pull the plug" on Spike, so to speak, remotely. Also, after working for 16 hours, Lee was looking forward to resting. He gave Jet the necessary information to electronically transfer the one million to his account.  
  
Jet wondered if he was better off going to the White Tigers for the money. After the beating that Spike had given the Red Dragons, they might not be so happy to see Jet coming around, asking for a loan. The big problem, of course, was that Jet didn't know anyone personally in that organization that he could ask. He had made a lot of enemies in his ISSP days, and now he needed a friend on the inside. 


	2. Poker Alice Strikes Again

Comatose Cowboy  
  
Chapter 2 - "Poker Alice Strikes Again"  
  
Jet went to Faye (!) for advice. "Do you know any money lenders in the Tigers from your gambling days?" he asked.  
  
"Oh, no, Jet! Don't borrow money from them unless you're sure you can pay it back immediately. They won't think twice about killing you - and me both. And with as many of them as we've collected bounties on, I don't know if they'd even lend us the money to begin with. There must be some lowlife we can collect on. How much do we need, and how long do we have to get it?" Faye asked.  
  
"One million, and tomorrow." Jet replied, eyes low.  
  
Faye took a sharp intake of breath. "What? Why would you agree to that, Jet? Are you insane?"  
  
"The doctor will disconnect Spike from the life support in about 24 hours if we don't pay. We have no choice."  
  
Faye felt the desperation of the situation overtake her. Just when she thought spike would live and she could relax, the rug got pulled out from under her again. Stupid Jet and that stupid doctor. They should have just taken him to a hospital and taken their chances with the Dragons. At least the hospital won't disconnect you for not paying your bill. Oh, sure they will hunt you down like a dog for the debt until you die, but for the time being, it was still considered unethical to kill the poor for not paying. Hmmm, Faye thought, I must be able to figure something out. Think, Faye!  
  
As usual, her thoughts turned quickly to gambling. If she could just go someplace like Vegas, she could probably parlay what little money they had into something more. It would have to be a lot more, though, and that would require cheating. She knew just what scam to pull from her days as Poker Alice. She would take her 'funny dice' to the craps table and make a few choice bets - doubling her money for a few rounds then move on to another casino before anyone got suspicious. She went to Jet with her plan.  
  
"No way, Faye. It's too dangerous."  
  
"More dangerous than borrowing money from the mob?"  
  
"If you get caught, they might as well be the mob. Those Vegas guys play very seriously. And I can't leave Spike to come rescue you."  
  
"I won't get caught. I know what I'm doing. Give me a little credit, Jet. Besides, with Spike hanging in the balance like this, I can't just sit around waiting for that monitor to flatline or for that doctor to shut him down. I've got to do something. So cough up the last of our money, Jet. If I lose, I'll go to the syndicate for you. But give me the chance to win that money free and clear."  
  
"But you're planning to cheat to win!"  
  
"I said free and clear, not fair and square, did I?"  
  
Faye climbed into the Redtail while Jet got the last 25,000W from the safe. He sure hoped Faye got home in one piece. He really didn't want to think about life without Spike and Faye all in one day.  
  
Faye took off for Earth like she had many times in the past, but this time was different. She usually departed with a 'fuck you all' in her heart, but this time she had someone (2 someones, really) who desperately needed her to return. Faye spent most of her adult past trying to stay free of obligations to anyone. She always found responsibility chafing, like a wool sweater, two sizes too tight. But when she thought of Spike on that bed, hooked up to all those monitors and machinery, with all those tubes going in and coming out of him, and Jet, limping around trying to hide just how badly that leg was hurting him - well, she felt kinda proud, somehow. Not put upon, or strangulated, but capable and worthy. They really needed her in the worst way. And for the first time, Faye rose to the occasion. She would get that money and not get caught.  
  
She landed at the first mark and strolled into the casino. A few men stopped playing long enough to admire her and then went back to their games. Faye stopped at the nearest craps table and put her money on the come line. This was the easiest and safest way to bet until it was her turn to roll. Then she would secretly switch the dice and Voila! Problem solved. She did fairly well, not betting too much (although she had an irresistible urge to bet it all and get it over with) and made small gains until her nest egg had grown to 50,000 W. Then it was her turn to roll. Faye palmed the casino dice, replacing them with her 'lucky' ones and let 'em roll. She wore a small ankle bracelet that controlled whether the dice fell odd or even, so after rolling a seven or eleven, she would keep it on even to insure that a seven or eleven would not come up again until it suited her. This also allowed her to place side bets on snake eyes, sixes and eights that could rapidly increase her winnings.  
  
What she didn't count on was that the new pit boss saw her coming a mile away. His plan was to let her switch the dice and win for a while. Then when she was ready to start doubling her money, confident she couldn't lose, he would pull a switcharoo on her dice and make her lose all of it. This was a game he enjoyed playing with cheaters, although the casino would not approve. They wanted cheaters apprehended immediately, but what they didn't know, wouldn't hurt them. The look on the cheaters' faces when they lost was priceless.  
  
After Faye had won some money with the 'lucky' dice, she started betting it all each roll to save time. The pit boss was waiting for this and made his switch back to normal dice. What he didn't count on was that Lady Luck (the real one!) finally decided that Faye Valentine needed a break. The real dice kept winning. At first Faye thought she was controlling the game, but then she won on a three, then a nine. It finally dawned on her what had happened. They had figured her out and she was about to be taken to a back room and God only knows what would happen to her there. Her mouth went dry and she started glancing at the exits.  
  
The pit boss decided that her winning streak had gone on long enough. She simply couldn't lose, even with legitimate dice. His only choice was to trade her dice back in and call security as if he had just discovered it. He replaced the dice on the next roll. Faye saw him do it! She saw that snakey, shifty eyed son-of-a-bitch switch the dice on HER! But she knew that if she rolled those 'lucky' dice, they'd be on her like stink on shit, so she quickly traded back to the real ones she had palmed on the first roll. As soon as the dice left her fingers, the pit boss stood up and shouted "Security, arrest this woman. She's using fixed dice."  
  
Two security guards came and hauled her away, each taking her by an elbow. "Let go of me!" Faye shrieked. "Is this how you treat winners?"  
  
Heads were turning, and game play halted throughout the casino.  
  
"Get her out of here, now!" snapped the pit boss.  
  
Casino security checked out the dice that Faye had thrown. They turned out to be standard casino issue. If she had indeed used trick dice, they would still be on her person.  
  
When they got Faye in the holding room, they gave her a very personal and thorough searching. They found the Glock, but she possessed a license to carry it. No funny dice could be found, so they brought in a female guard to do a strip search. She again found nothing. The pit boss couldn't admit that he had allowed someone to play with tampered dice, so he had to let her go. A totally humiliated but triumphant Faye left the casino 'up' around 700,000W. Good thing she had ditched those 'lucky' dice into the pocket of the gentleman standing next to her before rolling the dice that last time.  
  
Faye felt invincible. It was a rush to have won all that money. Normally she would have stayed and kept playing until she had lost it all again, but the pit boss had actually done her a favor. She walked away from a casino with Woolongs in her pocket. Somebody write this down 'cause it would surely never happen again. Faye was considering what to do next - how to get more money, specifically. She didn't know much about luck, but she knew enough not to push it.  
  
She called Jet on the comm to brag about her day. Jet was relieved to hear that Faye wasn't in custody of the law, or worse, casino security. She had actually won some money, and while she was away, he had gotten an advance tip on a bounty had would be just perfect for her. Some low life had cheated a casino using trick dice and escaped. He couldn't have gotten very far. Jet did some coordinate checking and found that the bounty had just left the very casino Faye was still parked in front of.  
  
"Hmmm, I think I know who that might be," thought Faye. Sure enough, she turned to see a ship leaving the parking lot in a hurry. She put the Redtail in hot pursuit. Faye opened fire on the ship, quickly convincing the pilot to land before he had no choice but eat some Redtail ammo. She immediately recognized the bounty as the guy who had been standing next to her at the craps table whom she had 'reverse pick-pocketed' the dice set on. No matter. A bounty was a bounty was a bounty. And this guy was strictly amatuer hour. Hell, he probably never considered cheating until he found Faye's dice in his pocket. Oh, well. A life of crime just did not pay. Better he learn that early. Faye dropped off the bounty and collected the 350,000W reward. She could return to the Bebop now, confident and happy with herself for the first time in a long time. 


	3. You Want Me To WHAT?

Comatose Cowboy  
  
Chapter 3 - "You want me to WHAT?"  
  
Faye parked her ship in the hangar and came into the main living area, half expecting to see the usual various forms sprawled around, but then quickly remembered that Ed and Ein were gone and Spike wouldn't be sleeping on the couch anytime soon. Faye found Jet in Spike's room, fiddling with tubes and talking to himself. He looked up sheepishly when he saw Faye.  
  
"Hey! You did it, huh? Well, I'll never say you can't work without back up again, Faye. You really saved the day."  
  
Faye said nothing, just watched Jet tenderly checking Spike's IV's. He carefully filled a syringe full of a clear liquid and proceeded to inject it into a clear tube coming from a bag of glucose, hanging over Spike's bed. Somehow, the exhilaration of her winning and catching the bounty by herself seemed to fade away rather quickly as she watched Spike struggle for breath. He had always seemed so invincible to her. He routinely took a bullet to the shoulder, arm or leg in stride, barely taking the time to get his stitches removed before going back out after bounties. Now, she wondered if she would ever even see him walk again. The thought was too depressing and it made her just want to go to her room and be alone.  
  
That was fine with Jet, since taking care of Spike was a full time job, leaving him just enough time to cook and run the ship. He hadn't touched his bonsai trees since his own accident. They would have to wait. He was tending and shaping a different tree now.  
  
As the days went by, Spike continued to hang on. He did a little better each day, although occasionally he would turn feverish as his body did battle with foreign intruders. According to orders, Jet kept track of fluid input and output, pulse, blood pressure and brainwave activity. Periodically, he would transmit the data to Dr. Lee, who would advise Jet of any adjustments to make.  
  
After two weeks, Spike was off of the ventilator and breathing on his own. Jet disconnected the heart monitor so that they didn't have to listen to the constant beeping of Spike's heartbeat. In the early days, he had found it comforting, but Jet was now confident that Spike wasn't going to die. The question that burned in his brain was whether or not the Spike that awoke was worth the saving. Jet had already had several nightmares of a Spike that couldn't talk and drooled out of one side of his mouth. He also imagined conversations with a crippled Spike in a wheelchair where Spike acrimoniously tells Jet that he would rather have died than live this way. Jet hopes they have done the right thing.  
  
After one month, Jet starts the physical therapy treatments. He stretches and massages Spikes arms and legs, trying to maintain the muscle tone there. He was thankful that Spike was in better than average shape to begin with. That should give him a better chance to walk sooner and make a full recovery.  
  
One thing was really starting to bother Jet, though. Spike was starting to stink! Jet didn't have any problem with most of his tasks as Spike's nurse, but he just couldn't bring himself to bathe Spike. It was simply too intimate. He wanted to ask Faye to do it, but ever since she had come back with the money that time, she acted as if caring for the comatose patient was none of her concern. She spent all of her time taking long baths, filing her nails and chasing the smallest of bounties so that they could eat and buy fuel. She was loath to even step into Spike's room at all unless Jet specifically called her in to help him. Then as soon as she was finished, she would leave.  
  
Jet just didn't get her. It was Faye that literally held a gun to his head to go rescue Spike in the first place on that fateful day. She was nearly hysterical when he was so damaged and near death. But now that Spike seemed like he would live, Faye wanted nothing to do with him. WOMEN! Jet would never understand them. He got himself all worked up over these thoughts and knocked hard at Faye's bedroom door.  
  
"Faye, I need to talk to you!"  
  
"What do you want?" Faye shot back. He sure sounded angry, she thought.  
  
"Can I come in?"  
  
"I guess."  
  
Jet entered to find Faye lying on her bed with her back to him.  
  
"I need you to give Spike a sponge bath."  
  
"No way, Jet."  
  
"What do you mean, no way? I've been the one doing everything for Spike. You just hang around in your room and do nothing."  
  
"Yeah, that and earn the only money we have coming in right now," Faye said coldly, her back still to him.  
  
"My leg is better. I could go out and work too if you would take care of Spike. Someone has to be here all of the time in case he wakes up."  
  
"He may never wake up, Jet. And each day that goes by it seems less likely that the Spike we knew is ever going to return."  
  
"That's not true. His brain activity has increased a lot lately. Faye, turn around and look at me."  
  
Faye rolled over slowly.  
  
"I wouldn't ask, but I just can't give the guy a bath. It's too personal. When he wakes up, I won't be able to look him in the eye. I really need you to step up to the plate on this one."  
  
Faye hated it when Jet begged. And she hated it all the more to know that he had probably wanted to ask her for days and needed to get himself all mad about it before he could work up the nerve. Jesus! Men! Faye would never get them.  
  
At this point, she did not have the energy to fight with Jet. So she said, "Okay." She would give Spike a bath. He was unconscious, after all. And she made Jet promise that he would never tell Spike. It would be their little secret. Jet readily promised, because he couldn't imagine ever wanting to discuss the details of Spike's care with him at all. Better to leave it all unsaid. Jet felt pretty sure that Spike would want it that way, too. 


	4. Doing Jet's Dirty Work

Comatose Cowboy  
  
Chapter 4 - "Doing Jet's Dirty Work"  
  
Faye was really furious with Jet. She spent the past month investigating small bounties that she could take down on her own without back up. That wasn't as easy as it sounded. Being a woman, (a tough one, but still) she needed to choose carefully just which jobs she could bring in without getting herself into trouble. Even Jet and Spike, who were two of the best, worked as a team, and even they occasionally ended up on the wrong side of a gun. But Faye studied hard, learning just which kind of bounty was easy enough and relatively safe enough for her to do alone. The biggest problem with this type of work was having to compete with all the amateurs out there, cutting their cowboy teeth on jobs like these. They would invariably show up at the wrong time, making her life a lot harder than it needed to be.  
  
And now Jet wasn't even giving her credit for all that she had done. Who kept food on the table, fuel in the tank, paid gate fees, not to mention Spike's medical bill? Faye, that's who. And if she felt like spending her free time alone in her room, well, that was her business. She always did that before Spike went and got himself killed. Besides, she hated looking at him laid out like a corpse on his bed. It was a little better now that the tubes were largely gone, but Faye couldn't help but think that if Spike woke up a retard or a drooler, she would just hate herself for insisting that he be revived. Maybe it would have been better if he had died that day. Then she could have mourned his passing and gotten on with her life.  
  
She felt pretty sorry for herself. She thought Jet would be thankful that she was doing all the work, but now, instead, he obsessed endlessly over Spike's care all day, jabbering at him as if he could hear and understand what Jet was saying. He barely cooked anymore, throwing together whatever was fast, easy and tasteless so he could quickly return to his patient.  
  
She could never do enough for Jet. And now he wanted her to give Spike a bath! Well, great. Just great! She never wanted to be anyone's nursemaid, let alone Spike's. Spike, who made her life on the Bebop difficult, rattling her cage every chance he got. Faye had the feeling that Spike liked her okay, but why did he have to tease her constantly? Enough, already. And yet now, as she thought about it, she would do anything to have him tease her just one more time. It was confusing.  
  
Part of the reason she hated going into Spike's room was because she missed him. Spike brought an easy air to the ship that was missing with just Jet and herself. It was easier to hide in her room and think that Spike was sleeping on the couch, but faced with the Sleeping Beauty, she was filled with hopelessness. What was he going to be like when he woke up? The thought tortured her often.  
  
Now, if she wanted to maintain peace with Jet, she was going to have to swallow her fear and give that fucker a bath.  
  
Faye went into Spike's room carrying a tub filled with warm, soapy water, a sponge and a towel. She stood for a few minutes, listening to his steady breathing. His face looked very peaceful, as though his eyes might open at any minute. She dipped the sponge into the water and squeezed out the excess. Faye stood there for a moment, taking deep breaths, checking to see if he showed any signs of waking. Her hands were shaking a little. Then she laughed to herself and began washing his hands that lay on top of the covers. She lifted his arm, carefully cleaning between his fingers, up around the elbows and under the armpit, noting that his bicep was still quite firm and did not seem to have atrophied at all. I guess all those martial arts exercises he practiced every day really paid off, she thought. She cleaned his other arm, then moved to his chest. For a skinny guy, spike had a fairly broad chest, with sparse hair. His skin was still stained in places by the Betadine wash that the surgeon used to disinfect him. Faye stroked the sponge over his body, stopping at where his belly button used to be. A long, red scar that started just under his right rib and went all the way to his left hip replaced it. The wound had healed nicely, and the line was shiny and raised. Faye traced it lightly with her fingertip, curious what it must have felt like to have been opened up like that. She shuddered, then dropped the sheet back over him.  
  
Next, she cleaned Spike's neck, face and hair. There was dried blood still caked in his unruly mop. Faye took care not to yank or pull where the hair was matted. She used the sponge to soak, then comb, soak, then comb, until eventually his hair was clean.  
  
Surprisingly, Faye got a lot of satisfaction cleaning Spike. There weren't many outlets for her softer side, and being in here alone with him was kind of nice. She could see how Jet spent so much of his time here. A Spike who could not talk was a Spike she could handle!  
  
Using very measured and gentle movements, Faye washed his face. "You know, Spike, you totally owe me. If it weren't for me, Jet wouldn't have come for you that day. And he couldn't have gotten the money for the doctor if I hadn't done it for him. You'd have been toast, buddy. So I hope you know I expect you to royally kiss my ass when you wake up, okay? I mean worship the ground I walk on."  
  
She continued. "Besides, the Bebop just isn't any fun without you. As irritating as you always are, you bring out the best in Jet and me. It all seems kinda wrong without you." Faye talked quietly as she washed his feet. "I hope you're not ticklish."  
  
She cleaned his calves, knees and thighs, but when she got to his groin, she stopped, blushing.  
  
"Spike, I gotta do this. I hope you don't mind!" She lifted the sheet up, exposing all of him. Faye couldn't believe how hot her face was, or how much her fingers were trembling. She quickly washed the area then replaced the sheet without drying him. She figured he could air dry.  
  
I'm behaving like a girl, she thought. It wasn't like she had never seen a man before (although contrary to her style of dress, she was not promiscuous). But to touch someone sleeping and so vulnerable like that without consent seemed kind of pervy to her. The only consolation was that Spike really needed that bath. He smelled a lot cleaner, now, and it made her feel happy to have it be over with. Her nerves were calmer now, and she chatted a little more with Spike.  
  
"I think you'll feel better now, Spike. You were really stinking the place up, but now Jet and I can stand to be in the same room with you."  
  
She rather tenderly stroked his still damp hair away from his face and bent down close to hear his steady breathing. He was a handsome little scamp. If only he weren't such an asshole, as well.  
  
Faye left Spike's room, humming softly to herself, thinking how good it felt to help someone else. Jet and Spike really needed her. That someone might need her used to scare her, but there was a new feeling of security in being needed.  
  
Jet was thankful that he managed to get Faye into Spike's room without too much fuss. She certainly had 'issues' surrounding Spike's injury that were going to be a problem, he could tell. The sooner he could get her in there, comfortable with Spike again, the better. He again found himself wondering just what would awake from this long, deep sleep. Heaven help them. 


	5. Round two?

Comatose Cowboy  
  
Chapter 5 - "Round Two"  
  
The second Spike bath was easier to arrange. All Jet had to do was ask and Faye said "Yeah, okay" (!) with no argument. Jet listened quietly outside Spike's door without Faye knowing to see if he could glean what her change of heart was all about. He was shocked to hear her speaking casually to Spike as if he were awake and conversing with her. She always made fun of him for talking to Spike. That hypocrite! Oh, well, Jet thought. At least it was better this way. He didn't have to have a showdown with Faye to get Spike cleaned and Faye was getting comfortable around Spike again. Maybe now he could start looking for work. If Faye would stay with Spike, Jet could go after something a little more profitable than what she was able to bring in. Besides, Jet was itching to leave the Bebop for a while. He hadn't been able to go anywhere for nearly two months and had a wicked case of cabin fever.  
  
Faye went into bathe Spike the second time with a lot less nervousness than the first. She had been to Spike's room several times since then, in fact. She found it strangely comforting to sit beside his bed and talk about her thoughts and feelings. Faye would never risk to do this with an awake, coherent person, but Spike just lay there, his chest rising and falling steadily, his face perfectly free of the usual smirk that Faye always sooo wanted to slap right off.  
  
She would sit and file her nails in here, talking about things like what it felt like to return to her childhood home, only to find it empty and devoid of anything meaningful to her. She spoke of waking in the cryo-lab, disoriented and frightened. (Faye thought to herself on that day that Spike had already heard that story, but fuck him. He wasn't listening anyway.) She also bitched about Jet, and how he thought he was the boss of her and how he really needed to take some cooking lessons. But mostly she talked about how lonely she was most of the time. She had never been in love with anyone long enough to feel safe and secure. All of her love adventures had ended quite badly, leaving her bruised and wary of men.  
  
So being here to bathe Spike again was much easier. She went about setting up the water and towels. As she stood over Spike, she started sponging his body and chatting away.  
  
"Well, Spike, you certainly do manage to get dirty, even though you aren't doing anything. I'm not going to shampoo you today. The hair still looks relatively clean."  
  
She washed his arms, feet and legs without hesitation, but when she came to 'the area' again, she halted. Best to simply take a deep breath and start cleaning, she thought. Pulling back the sheet, Faye found herself sneaking just the tiniest peek at Spike's package as she washed. Oh God! Did it move? Faye couldn't be sure, but she didn't dare look again. Or should she? What if Jet came in and found Spike with a tentpole and Faye standing there like an idiot? She got totally flustered and threw the sheet back over Spike.  
  
She turned away quickly, knocking over the bath water, sending it cascading to the floor.  
  
"CRAP!" she yelled. Oh shit, she thought to herself. That exclamation was probably enough to bring Jet running. Lately he thought that the brainwave activity was pointing to Spike waking soon, and would come running to the room at the slightest provocation. Sure enough, as she was tossing the towels on the floor puddle, Jet came to the doorway.  
  
"What's going on?" he asked.  
  
"Uh, nothing. I knocked over my water tub, that's all. I uh,....I'm almost done here. I...I'll be out in a minute."  
  
"Okay, whatever." Jet replied. "Be more careful next time, huh Faye?" and he left.  
  
Faye got all of the water wiped up and was getting ready to leave when she noticed her sponge was missing. Where did it go, she wondered. I had it a minute ago when I was....Oh, God! It was there, barely visible under the sheet, next to Spike's......Okay. Don't panic, Faye. You're going back in for the sponge, nothing more. Just reach in and get the sponge. Don't touch anything else!  
  
Small beads of perspiration had formed all along her hairline. She held her breath and went in after it. When at last she had the troublesome sponge back in her hand, she looked up to see Spike looking right at her with his eyes wide open. 


	6. The Ballad of Spike Van Winkle

Comatose Cowboy  
  
Chapter 6 - "The Ballad of Spike Van Winkle"  
  
An immediate smile broke out on Spike's face. Faye thought she might die. She wished a lightning bolt would just fall from the sky and slay her right then, but no celestial help was forthcoming. She just stood there, sheepishly holding the sponge for what seemed like an eternity.  
  
Finally Spike spoke. "Do you have a smoke?" he croaked.  
  
God knows his voice was low to begin with, but add to that the fact that no water had passed his lips for nearly two months. He was only able to rasp out a whisper.  
  
"Wha...Omigod, Spike, you're awake. JET!! Jet, get in here now!" screamed Faye.  
  
She was genuinely startled at first and then glad to see him acting somewhat normally. She was also most dreadfully embarrassed at the same time. What was keeping Jet? The sooner he got in here, the sooner she didn't have to think about the fact that when Spike awoke, her hand had been under the sheet in a pretty compromising position.  
  
Jet burst into the room. "What the..? Jesus, Spike! You're awake! How do you feel?"  
  
As for Spike, he was looking at Faye and Jet as if they were both nuts. What was up with them?  
  
"Have I been asleep long?" he asked.  
  
"Nearly two months, buddy. You had a close call there, Spike. You almost didn't come back from this one."  
  
Jet stood at Spike's bedside, patting his shoulder. He practically wanted to hug the guy, he was so excited. It was such a huge relief to Faye and Jet that Spike could talk that for the longest time, all they could do was just stand and stare at him.  
  
Finally Jet asked again, "How do you feel?"  
  
"Pretty shitty, actually. I have a headache, my throat hurts like hell and my eye isn't working. Did I take a blow to the head?" Spike asked.  
  
"What didn't you have happen to you," Faye answered. "You're luck to be alive."  
  
"I'm sure we can get that eye fixed, once you can walk," Jet said.  
  
"I can walk now," said Spike, swinging his legs over the side of the bed. Then he realized he was naked under the sheet. "Where are my clothes?"  
  
"Hold it, now, Spike. You've been down a long time, like I told you. You won't be able to just stand up and walk just like that," Jet advised. "Your legs will need work."  
  
"Just get me some clothes and watch me," Spike retorted. He disconnected his IV's and pulled out the catheter. YIKES! That hurt like a son-of-a- bitch.  
  
Faye went to get him a kimono and then they both left the room to give him some privacy. They went running back in thirty seconds later when they heard a giant THUD coming from inside the room.  
  
Spike was on the floor in a heap, cursing. Jet ran over to help.  
  
"God Dammit, Jet, I can do this myself!" Spike shouted.  
  
He sat there for a while, trying to right himself, when it became clear to him just how out of shape he had become. He laughed a little at himself. He was fucking Rip Van Winkle! He let Jet and Faye help him back onto the bed, determined to try again tomorrow. He would need food, cigarettes, and some barbells tonight, if that were going to happen, he decided. No one was going to keep Spike Spiegel down for long. 


	7. The trouble with Faye

Comatose Cowboy  
  
Chapter 7 - "The Trouble With Faye"  
  
Within a week, Spike was able to walk on his own. Jet and Faye regaled him with stories of his rescue and near death on the operating table, as well as Faye's adventures in paying his medical bills.  
  
He went to have his prosthetic eye repaired. It seemed that during surgery, Dr. Lee had to use the paddles to revive Spike's heartbeat a few times. The electrical shock fried the eye's circuitry, disabling it. But all was back to normal now - save for just one thing.  
  
The Spike that awoke from his lengthy sleep was different from the one that left the ship to face Vicious two months ago. Spike was the first to notice it. Although he had been in a coma, he found that he could remember conversations with both Jet and Faye from when he was sleeping. They were one-sided conversations to be sure, as he could not respond, but in his mind he kept up his end. Now it seemed like remembering a vivid dream, where your thoughts are like spoken words that others can hear, except Faye and Jet heard nothing. The whole thing was played out in Spike's mind alone. He could distinctly remember Jet talking about what he was making for dinner, or how Faye was working his last nerve.  
  
He had similar 'dreams' where Faye would sit next to him and pour her heart out for a while. Those were the most disturbing dreams. Spike had always thought of Faye as a kind of tough-as-nails younger sister who was there to make his life miserable with her smart mouth and biting remarks. He always delighted in never letting her get the upper hand. After all, he was Jet's partner. She was a 'guest' who occasionally worked for her keep.  
  
But those feelings were taking a pretty major shift in a direction Spike wasn't sure he liked. Maybe it was the morphine talking, but some of the stuff Faye shared with him while he slept nearly broke his heart. She wasn't the shallow, self-absorbed shrew he always thought. In reality, she was lonely and felt like she had no one at her back. She was afraid of things, but even more scared that Spike or Jet would see her as weak. She projected a very different Faye than the one that lived inside of her, partly because for a long time she couldn't remember who she was, but also because she had learned to survive that way.  
  
She had a surprisingly soft, gentle touch. She had bathed him twice while he slept and Spike now found himself wishing he were still asleep so that he could enjoy that experience again. He hadn't been handled that tenderly since his own mother had bathed him as an infant. His nostrils would fill with the smell of her hair, making him think of Faye in an entirely different light.  
  
She went out to raise the money for his medical bill at great risk to herself. That had to count for something, didn't it? She was the one who made Jet come for him when he lay dying. She must feel something very strong inside for him, right? Why else would she have wasted all of that ammo the night he left? Spike wondered if Faye had feelings for him, too. Maybe if he hadn't been so preoccupied with thoughts of Julia all the time, he would have noticed.  
  
That was another thing Spike thought a lot about while he slept. Julia. He had wasted so much time looking for Julia, who turned out not to be the woman he once thought she was. She was not strong enough to leave behind the syndicate life, too afraid to envision a life of happiness with him. Still hooked into a life that Spike had shed as easily as a snake loses his skin in summer. The past three years was thrown away, hand over fist, thinking that someday he would find her and convince her to go away with him. But the sad truth was that Julia simply did not want him enough. She did not choose to be with him. And now she was dead.  
  
These thoughts were devastating at first, but as time went by, he saw that the realization had finally set him free. Free to fall in love with someone who could care for him and love him the way he secretly longed to be loved. And that someone just might be Faye Valentine. 


	8. Faye's Fury

Comatose Cowboy  
  
Chapter 8 - "Faye's Fury"  
  
Faye was feeling strange and cranky. She couldn't exactly put her finger on it, but something was definitely amiss on the Bebop. The feeling shadowed her for days, before finally tackling her one night as she lay in bed waiting for sleep.  
  
Spike was being nice to her.  
  
What was that all about? Was he so happy just to be alive that he forgot to twist her panties just for the fun of it? Faye stewed over this problem. If Spike's reactions toward her had changed since he awoke, then she didn't know where she belonged anymore. She understood her previous position perfectly- selfish, independent, tough, gorgeous. What did he want from her?  
  
The thought continued to gnaw at her until one day she was exiting the shower after a two-hour beauty session to find Spike out smoking in the hall. He was standing in her way, so she moved to the left to pass by. He moved to the left as well, blocking her exit. She feinted right, but he too moved right so that she was trapped, standing in only a damp towel with her hair dripping around her face.  
  
Spike put his arms against the wall on either side of her so she couldn't move and leaned in so that his face was just millimeters from hers. He flicked his cigarette to the floor, not bothering to grind it out with his foot.  
  
"I've been meaning to tell you something lately, Faye," Spike said, smiling wickedly.  
  
"Oh, yeah, what might that be?" Faye asked, her voice dripping with sarcasm.  
  
"I've been meaning to say thanks." His eyes were dancing with mischief.  
  
"I'll bite - thanks for what?"  
  
"Thanks for the sponge baths. They really made my day, if you know what I mean," he chuckled slightly.  
  
Faye's eyes went wide. Her mouth dropped open and hung there for a moment. Spike took the opportunity to plant a kiss on her. Then he dropped his arms and sauntered away. Faye stood there, incredulous for a long moment, unable to process what had just happened to her, then shrieked at the top of her lungs.  
  
"JET BLACK, YOU MOTHERFUCKER! You swore you'd never tell. I should have known better. This is a boys clubhouse and it always will be."  
  
Jet had been in his room, catching up on his bonsai trimming when Faye exploded. He poked his head out of his room innocently.  
  
"What did I do?" Jet asked.  
  
"You fucking told Spike that I gave him a bath while he was in the coma, that's what, you asshole!"  
  
"Whoa, whoa, there. I never said anything to him about that. I don't want to discuss it anymore than you do."  
  
"Then how does he know, huh? How else could he know? I only did it because you were too chickenshit to do it yourself and this is the thanks I get."  
  
She was so angry her eyes were blazing. It was probably just as well for Jet that Faye was naked under that towel and nowhere near a weapon. She might have killed him. All of her feelings of not belonging and betrayal came flooding back into her. She needed to leave, right now.  
  
"I swear, Faye. I didn't say ANYTHING," Jet called out to her retreating back. "Spike, get in here!"  
  
"I'm resting," came the lazy reply from the couch.  
  
Despite his new feelings for her, Spike still could not resist stirring up shit with Faye. She rose to the bait every time.  
  
Jet caught up with Faye and grabbed her arm. He propelled her toward the living room, where Spike was 'napping' with a newspaper over his face. Lucky thing, too, because he was laughing to himself under there.  
  
"We're going to settle this now. Spike, come out from under there. I want to clarify something" Jet said calmly, but firmly.  
  
Spike tossed the paper to the floor and looked up at Jet and Faye.  
  
"How did you know about the baths?" Jet demanded.  
  
Spike wasn't sure how to describe what had happened. He hardly believed it himself. But he owed these two confused friends an answer.  
  
"It's weird. It was like a dream, but not. I knew it was real. I was aware of a lot of what happened in my room while I was in the coma, even though I couldn't move or respond. I could hear you two talking to me and I knew when I would get turned over and stuff. I know Faye gave me a bath, twice. I remember it like a dream," Spike confessed.  
  
Faye was going apoplectic inside, but she struggled to remain calm on the outside.  
  
"You and your dreams. All I've ever heard from you is how life is one big dream that you never wake from." All Faye could think of were those days when she stupidly sat and talked for hours, telling Spike all that stuff about herself. She had given him all the ammunition against her that he would ever need. All those feelings and memories that she had spoken aloud, thinking him asleep - COMATOSE!  
  
Jet's words knocked her out of her internal reverie.  
  
"You know, I read somewhere one time that coma patients might be able to hear and feel what's going on around them. That's why I always talked to you. Huh! Isn't that interesting..."  
  
"You knew?" Faye said accusingly. "You knew! And you never said anything to me about it. You just sent me in there to do your dirty work and let me talk about things, knowing he could hear me? Well, fuck you both!" Faye ran to her room and slammed the door so hard the ship rattled.  
  
The two guys looked at each other and shrugged. Then Jet asked, "So, Spike, what did she tell you about that's bothering her so much?"  
  
"Mostly about your bad cooking and how she had to do everything!" Spike laughed. Jet laughed too, eventually. "She'll get over it," Spike mused. "I think I'll go have a little talk with her when she cools down." 


	9. Happily Ever After?

Comatose Cowboy  
  
A/N Thanks to all who read and reviewed my first REAL fanfic. I posted two other stories with my daughter to get her writing, but I wanted to see if I could do one on my own. I wrote this longhand on a trip to Spain, and have posted it as I have had time to get it typed up. I loved this series, and hope I have done it justice.  
  
Chapter 9 - "Happily Ever After?"  
  
Faye was in her room, shoving clothes into a duffel bag wildly. She HATED Spike and Jet right now. She might never return to the Bebop, then they'd be sorry. She stormed out past the couch where Spike still lay. Spike looked up at her.  
  
"Where you goin?" he asked.  
  
"None of your business and don't try to find me," she fumed.  
  
"Hey, Faye, c'mon. It was all in good fun. Don't get all mad and leave because I gave you a little kiss," Spike said.  
  
"It's not about that, you idiot! I told you things that I never told anyone before and now you can't wait to throw it back in my face and make fun of it. Well, I don't want to hang around here for that." Her voice trailed off as she walked away toward the hangar.  
  
Spike jumped up and ran after her.  
  
"Faye! Don't go. I didn't mean to make fun of you. I was just being a jerk."  
  
Faye was climbing into the Redtail, acting like she couldn't hear him.  
  
"Faye - please. I, uh, I think.... I think I might be in love with you?" Spike said, running his hand up over his thick mop of hair. Oh, boy! What just happened? He kept his head low, as if to duck under something being thrown at him, wondering what would come back from that remark! He was quite unsure of what he was about to do, but he couldn't let Faye just leave (maybe forever) without saying what he was thinking.  
  
"God Dammit, Spike! Quit fucking around with me."  
  
"No, I'm not. Seriously. Just come down from there so I can talk to you."  
  
Faye stood there, not knowing what to do. She really wanted to leave in the worst way, but something about the way Spike was standing there with his head low gave her pause. Had he really just said what she thought he had said? What about Julia? Was she still in his heart, too? How could Faye ever hope to compete with a tragically killed ex-love obsession? Faye had a hard time admitting to herself that she had always had a bit of a crush on Spike, but because he had mooned endlessly over the mystery woman from his past, she never allowed herself to think too much about it. The attraction between them played itself out in meaningless flirtation and teasing each other constantly.  
  
What really shook Faye all the way down to her little white boots was the fact that she had already sensed this change in Spike. She felt pretty sure that he hadn't meant to blurt out that clumsy, almost declaration of love back there. The old Spike would have rather taken a bullet than let that slip.  
  
So Faye was frozen in her thoughts, unable to move. She stood in the cockpit with one hand up over her head, clutching the hatch, and the other still carrying the duffel.  
  
"Well, are you coming down or what?" Spike asked.  
  
Faye jumped down from her ship and faced him. "So, are we supposed to fall madly in love and live happily ever after, now? I can never take Julia's place, Spike."  
  
"I'm not asking you to, Faye. One thing I learned by being in that coma is that I don't want to waste anymore of my life. I've wasted enough already, waiting for Julia and now she's dead. I'm done with that part of my life. Besides, I can't get you out of my head since I woke up. I think I get you now, Faye. All those things you told me about while I slept helped me to understand who you are and I'm going to try to stop torturing you all the time. I can't promise you 'happily ever after.' I wouldn't even try. But I really care about you, and I think if you're honest with yourself, you really care about me. You wouldn't have come to rescue me if you didn't care. I told you the day I left to face Vicious that one of my eyes saw the present and the other saw the past. But now my eye is fixed, so now the old one sees the present and the new one sees the future. I see you and me together, Faye, with that new eye. And we look pretty good to me."  
  
Spike paused, after what was surely the longest speech he had ever made. He could tell that his words had been right with Faye. She dropped her duffel and smiled up at him, hopefully. Spike went to her and took her in his arms. She felt great to him, all warm and sweet smelling. He cupped his hand under her chin and lifted her face. Their lips met in a long, lingering kiss.  
  
Faye couldn't believe this was happening. One minute ago, she was ready to leave the Bebop forever and now Spike was kissing her again, telling her that he loved her and saw her as part of his future, come what may. God, she hoped that this wasn't just a dream. His lips were softer than she imagined, and she felt the heat of his fingers as they gripped her waist. All of her fear and sadness were being lifted away by his touch. She so wanted to be loved and protected.  
  
And then in this perfect moment, Jet stumbled into the hangar to catch them in their embrace. "Well, it's about time," he chuckled. "You two deserve each other!"  
  
Jet laughed at his own remark and then laughed even harder as the two lovers, still locked in the kiss, each raised one hand simultaneously to give him the finger.  
  
Spike thought to himself, life with Faye was going to be one wild ride, but after all, he was a cowboy.  
  
SEE YOU, SPACE COWBOY... 


End file.
